OOTD

Razor back top. H&M £7.99

Acid wash leggings. H&M £12.99

Cardigan. H&M £19.99

Black bandeau top. New Look £3.99

Leather studded slippers. Topshop 

Cross Necklace. Miss Selfridge 

Ring. Miss Selfridge £1.50 (Sale)

Bracelet. River Island Men

Bangle. H&M

OOTD

Crop Top. Topshop £8

Shorts. Levi From Ebay £17

Belt. Primark £3

Blouse. Primark £10

Boots. Dorethy Perkins £35

Rose Gold Bangle. H&M

Real Techniques Brushes

Hi everyone!
It's a horrible rainy day in Plymouth and I've just filmed a video with my boyfriend so whilst he's playing on his Ipad I thought I would tell you about Real Techniques brushes. 


I've been watching the Pixie Woo girls on Youtube for a long time now and when I found out Samantha has produced her own brush collection I was all for trying them out. Before I had even purchased any myself, Sam was using them in her own makeup tutorials so I could see the quality of them and the amazing results they produced. So, here we go!


The Core Collection

Whats included: (left to right) The Pointed Foundation Brush, The Contour Brush, The Detailer Brush and the Buffing Brush.


What they are for:
-The pointed foundation brush: Use for liquid foundation to build a custom coverage, however, I find this brush more useful when applying concealer. I don't think this brush is big or firm enough to apply foundation all over the face.


-The contour brush: delicately applies colour in the contour of you cheeks or use to apply highlighter for a soft focus finish. I love this brush for adding a bit of colour with bronzer in the hollows of my cheeks and around my temples. The brush blends really nicely and doesn't leave any stark lines. 


-The detailer brush: precision cut for concealing problem areas or use with lipstick. I prefer using this brush for lipstick as i find it a bit sharp for concealer, definitely precision cut!


-The buffing brush: ideal for full coverage application of mineral or powder foundation. This is my favourite Real Techniques brush and I would also recommend it for liquid foundation. It blends the product in to the skin effortlessly and buffs the skin to leave a flawless finish. 


Price and Purchase:  I bought my set from http://www.love-makeup.co.uk/real-techniques-core-collection-p-2340.html for £20.99. The majority of Real Techniques brushes can be bought from larger Boots stores. 

The Travel Essentials Kit and Stippling Brush

Whats included: (left to right) Stippling brush (not included in the kit, has to be bought separately), The Domed Eye Shadow Brush, The Essential Foundation Brush and The Multi-Task Brush.


What they are for:
-The Stippling Brush: This brush is a duel-fibre brush for creating an airbrushed high definition effect with any type of makeup. This was the first brush I bought so I did use this for foundation but now I prefer the buffing brush for foundation I use this brush for applying blusher. I think this brush is an excellent all rounder, good for anything! I also like the fact this brush can stand up on it own because of it's base but it can be annoying for traveling. This brush is £10.99 from http://www.love-makeup.co.uk/real-techniques-core-collection-p-2340.html


-The Domed Eye Shadow Brush: I use this brush for it's exact purpose, however, watching Pixie Woo videos I have seen them use this brush for concealer too! I really like this brush for eye shadow because it has the perfect density to produce a effortless sweep of colour across the eye and has a nice shape to blend other colours in to the crease. 


-The Essential Foundation Brush: When I first bought this set I used this brush for concealer rather than foundation. Like the other kit I feel this brush is too small for liquid foundation, still bigger than the one in the other kit, but I did like using it for concealer because of it's tapered shape. 


-The Multi-Task Brush: for effortless application of powder, blush or bronzer. I use this brush mainly for powder, and sometimes bronzer on my neck, because of it's shape. I think it is way too big for my to use for blusher because I have quite small features. 


Price and Purchase- Again this kit was £20.99 from http://www.love-makeup.co.uk/real-techniques-core-collection-p-2340.html.

Overall, I am in LOVE with these brushes! All of the brushes are hand-cut and 100% cruelty free and have extra plush bristles. They are so soft and luxurious. My experience with these brushes have been really good and if I haven't used a brush for it's actual purpose I have found a way to put them all to good use. Non of the brushes leave streaks and apply a variety of makeup effortlessly and flawlessly leaving you feeling like a million bucks. I would recommend these brushes to beginners for their ease of use and to professionals for their excellent quality. I'm sure you will agree with me on how good the value of these brushes are, never before have I seen quality brushes for as cheap as these are...especially when you're getting 4-5 brushes in a kit. Get buying!!


Other places to buy:


- Boots
- http://realtechniques.com/
- http://www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk/
- http://www.beautychamber.co.uk/real-techniques-c-303.html

Topshop Lipstick- Infrared

So it's been another busy day in the shopping department today, i'll make sure to do a haul in the near future, and this is one of my favourite purchases. Presenting to you Infrared by Topshop- it's name is as enticing as it's colour. 


Like most things I buy, I have walked past this lipstick umm'ing and ahh'ing about whether to buy it or not...and today I caved.  I first got a glimpse of this lipstick on Zoe from Zoella, one of my fav beauty gurus, and she has very similar colouring to me so I've been tempted ever since then.  


The lipstick was £9 which I thought was a bit pricey for what I consider to be a more high street brand but I can tell you it's well worth it. If you have never tried a Topshop lipstick before I recommend high-tailing down there and picking one up because you are missing out on what they claim to be a "velvet finish, moisturising lipstick". Now normally I would associate the word 'velvet' with a more matte consistency but I was pleasantly surprised at how creamy and nourishing this lipstick felt when I applied it. The colour is a summery coral colour, verging on red but more orangey..perfect for the more fair, blue eyed girls. I think the colour pay off is that similar to any MAC lipstick and it stood the ware and tare of food, drink and rain today, only fading a bit after a couple of hours. 

Something else to consider...how cute is Topshop's packaging!? 


What's your favourite lipstick at the moment?


Becci xo

Essie- Absolutely Shore

With the pastel spring trend I've been on a never ending mission to compile my perfect spring nail varnish collection. If you've read my spring nail varnish post you will know that it was almost complete...and then I purchased Essie Absolutely Shore. 


This has been raved about so much by the beauty community in blogs and YouTube and I can't say that I'm in love with it as much as I know other people are. I think it is a stunning colour which hits the pastel trend right on it's head, it is the perfect blend of green, grey and white and has a fresh milkiness to it. Unfortunately, it is sooooo difficult to build up to a good opacity and you need a good 3-4 layers to get rid of the streaks. The polish's longevity is the same as any other of it's price- around 5-7 days which I was happy with. Overall I am impressed by the colour and I will definitely be trying some from Essie again. The only warning I have is to be prepared to build it up, if you don't let each layer dry for an appropriate amount of time then you could find yourself starting all over again. 


This is my first Essie polish and I bought it from Beauty Bay for £8.50. 
http://www.beautybay.com/cosmetics/essie/absolutelyshore/
The would recommend this website as it was easy to use and provided very speedy delivery!

Levi Shorts

These are my new Levi shorts! Ok, so the picture doesn't do them much justice but I love the vintage feel about them. They have a high waist but aren't hot pants which I like a lot because I've found a lot of high waist shorts I've seen show off your bum! They were £17 which I think is amazing because they're authentic. The light denim is also amazing for spring and summer. A nice piece to pair with crop tops and slouchy cardigans or a tied up white shirt. They are supper comfortable and very slimming...bonus!! 

This is the seller...

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/spotty-n-dotty/&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2754

They were fantastic and the shorts came the next day!

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Soap and Glory Hocus Focus Instant Visual Flaw-Softening Lotion Review.

So, as you may have seen if you've read my recent bare minerals foundation review, I've been having a few issues but I wanted to stick with it, mainly because of the price and I didn't want to waste the money! It's taken me a while to get used to using a mineral foundation but I really feel like i'm getting the hang of it now...also the brush I bought with it is getting a lot better, I think it just needed to be broken in, so to speak. 

I still wasn't happy though with how dull it was making my skin. I love the over all flawless finish and natural no makeup look that it gives you but it can leave your skin looking a bit lifeless, which you obviously don't want.

I'd seen this in Boots and it was £13 which meant I've actually picked it up 3 times without actually buying it, but I finally gave in because whoever made the box, definitely sold it to me! Well done Soup and Glory!

The reason I wanted this is because it claims to diffuse the appearance of large pores, wrinkles and uneven pigmentation and on the back the surveys show that 96% of women said that it gave the skin a healthy glow and makes your skin look more radiant. I can 100% agree with those claims and apparently it's because of their Lightscramble Lumispheres. 


I used the product mixed in with my moisturiser and it immediately made my skin look dewy and well...luminous! Soap and Glory also suggest that you can use this on it's own as a cheek bone highlighter or mixed in with your foundation. 

I like the packaging that Soap and Glory have designed for this product, it is quite weighty but sleek at the same time making it feel very high-end and luxurious, a treat for your skin and your eyes! The pump, however, does sometimes have a bit of an issue with over flow so watch out for that...you don't want to look like a disco ball. 


I recommend this product to anyone who wants a bit of a pick me up when they're doing their makeup in the morning. It really is a blast of brilliance for tired, dull skin and it gave me such a confidence boost because my skin really did look radiant. 


What are you recommendations for a healthy glow? 


Becci x

2 small purchases of the day.

Had a cheeky trip into town today and picked up two things off my ever growing 'i want' list...

First is a denim jacket from H&M for £25. Not a bad price considering I then went into Topshop and saw one basically identical for £40. The fit is perfect, it's really comfortable and very good quality. It hasn't been the nicest of days and it kept me nice and toasty too. 


-Dress: £6 Primark, Belt: £unknown H&M, Necklaces: £7.50 Miss Selfridge, 

I then went into MAC, always dangerous, but I refrained and only got an eye shadow for £12. This is in the shade Kid. I've been after a natural looking matte brown for a while but I would only ever find one with shimmer in or ones that either had too much of a purple tone or too much of a red tone. This one is perfect for an everyday wash off colour that doesn't stand out too much but gives good definition to your eyes. 

My Spring Nail Polishes.

As the Spring has brought the Pastel trend our way I thought it best to put aside my Autumn/Winter colours and update my collection. These are what I have brought so far and my favourite at the moment.

...And i can NOT wait for the Essie diffusion line to come to shops near me!

Left to Right: Topshop- Hunting, Topshop AWOL and Topshop- World's end. 

Left to Right: Barry M- Blue Moon, Topshop- Gone Fishing and L'oreal- French Riviera.

Left to Right: L'oreal- Opera Ballerina, Models Own- Utopia and Topshop- Parma Violet

                              
  Left to Right: Topshop- Big Smoke and No.7- So Simple

                       
 Left to Right: 17- Sherbet Lemon and Nails Inc- Hans Crescent

My favourite for this season so far....L'oreal- Opera Ballerina. A perfect milky pink/white which doesn't take too many coats to become opaque and as a beautiful glossy finish.


What are you painting your nails with at the moment? 

The boyfriend has entered the blogisphere.

http://nathanjackson25.blogspot.co.uk/

This is the boyfriends blog :) 
He's new and he is going to be blogging about man things like the gym and men's fashion. Lacrosse holds a special place in his heart so expect to see a lot from that.
Very promising don't you think?

Bare Minerals Matte Mineral Foundation

Hi everyone! I haven't done a Blog post in agggggges, mainly due to placement and university work but i thought as summer was coming up I would get back into the swing of things...and after some nagging from the boyfriend. Any who, I thought I would kick things off with talking about the Bare Minerals Matte Mineral foundation, a bit of a long winded title! 


I first wanted to try out this foundation because I, in the 7 or so years I've been wearing foundation, have never been truly satisfied with what I've been purchasing. I have only ever had one high end foundation before but unfortunately the woman did a complete botch job with matching to my skin tone and I kind of thought, meh, I'll just stick to drugstore brands. Unfortunately, this lead to me buying product, after product, after product because although I am a huge advocate for saving your pennies, on something like foundation I think you get what you pay for and after all, it is your skin and you want it to look beautiful. 


So, after that rant about how i find it impossible to find a drugstore foundation for my skin tone, colour and type, I'll tell you about Bare Minerals. I purchased mine from Debenhams for £25. Now, that is a little pricey for 6g of product in my opinion, however the lady at the counter assured me a little goes a long way and it should last for 4-6 months. I've only been using mine for a week so time will soon tell. The lady matched the product to my skin in the shade W10- Golden Fair. I have NEVER had a foundation match my skin so well and I normally end up doing the bronzer down my neck trick, which i hate! I'm not extremely pale, I do normally attempt foundations around the golden/beige colours, but this colour is spot on!


I chose the Matter foundation rather than the original because the lady said the original has a dewy/glow effect. Now, my skin is normally quite oily with some dry patches like on the end of my nose so although i love the thought of dewy, glowy skin, i didn't want to end up like a disco ball and went for matte. Bare minerals definition of oily is obviously different to mine because I think I could have gone for the original foundation. I do like the formulation of this foundation but obviously my skin is more dry than I thought and this foundation is VERY matte. I find that unless I use a very rich moisturiser, the product can be difficult to blend into the skin...even with my real techniques buffing brush! I think this is the products one downfall because for a brand who claim to give you a product that is quick and effortless to apply, I don't think spending 15 minutes blending a product into the skin so it doesn't look patchy is quick or effortless. 


Quick note: the brush in the picture is the Bare minerals Handy Buki brush which is meant to help the foundation go from light to medium/heavy coverage as the product is buildable. I personally didn't like it and am disappointed in myself for spending £19 on it. It is almost too dense and i don't think it helped to my blending nightmares, hence i swapped back to my Real Techniques buffing brush. 


Overall I do like this product though, if you can look past the slight blending issues it has a lot of positives! Once it has settled on the skin for a little bit (I recommend 5 minutes before you move on to other face products) it leaves a beautiful and natural finish to the skin. I do think it covers blemishes and red areas nicely and I love the fact that it's buildable. I find that it doesn't cling to the dry patches on my skin and I can vouch that this foundation can go the distance and last all day. 

What are your opinions on the Bare Minerals Matte Foundation?
                                                                                           xXx